How it Began
by xXDemonic AngelXx
Summary: Cloud wants to be a soldier after listening to Zack. But after the warnings his older friend gives him, he goes anyway and has his whole life changed. Oneshot, kinda before the game, before the movie...


Okay, so i did this for school, and it's like a vignette-short story. so, hopefully this isn't too bad, and the Commanders name, i did it for a friend, and i wanted a cool name (hehe) so yeah. Enjoy, and r&r...

**_How it Began_**

Cloud had listened to Zack's stories, and then had twisted them around to sound like he had done everything. How could he not though? Zack had told of his training with the swords and guns, the physical workouts, the mental preparation, and then the combat. Everything he said sounded...exciting, exhilarating; it put you to the test. And that was the type of thing Cloud wanted. He wanted to have that life so bad, he took all of Zack's experiences, and made them his own. Zack had even asked him, "So you wanna be a Soldier, huh? It takes a lot of hard training, but you could probably do it." But Zack had left out that Cloud was still a little too young.

He helped Cloud out though. He helped train him, show him tricks he could use in combat. When Cloud was old enough to go apply to be a Soldier, he was nervous yet excited. His pulsed raced, and he was slightly sweating. His stomach felt like knots, and his limbs felt weak. There was only one thing on his mind, one thing making him realize it wasn't too late to turn around. "The process to become a Super Soldier though," Zack had explained a little earlier that morning, "isn't the best. And I'm not talking about your training; it's what comes before that. The process. If they accept you, you'll see what I'm talking about."

Cloud entered the room, glancing at everything, the odd things standing out to him. The brown walls, with a few windows and no pictures. A filing cabinet with a paper rose in a black plastic vase on top. Next to it sat a smiling badge. In the center of the room was a wooden desk that had two pictures of family on it, and a little poster that said "Super Soldiers are the right Soldiers." There was no name on display anywhere, except on the nametag of the man sitting in front of him.

He had black hair, dark as the night, that barely reached his ears, and bright, sharp eyes that seemed to scan Cloud as he walked in, already deciding a "yes," or "no." His simple black uniform showed barely any detail; a red badge on his left collar, and a nametag attached to the right. He stood up as Cloud stopped in front of him, holding a hand out. "Cloud Strife, I'm Commander Demyx. Please, have a seat."

Cloud sat down in the hard-backed wooden chair, ignoring how uncomfortable it was. He looked at the Commander, not saying anything. The Commander looked down at the papers Cloud had earlier given the man at the front desk, and seemed to be skimming them.

"Let me see...Everything really seems to be in order, and you look to be fit enough." He looked up, and clasped his hands together, starring blue eyes to blue eyes. "I'm not going to be asking the questions about what you've done in your past to consider worthy enough to come here, or any of that shit, because you could lie to get in or tell the truth to get in. Technically, I don't care either way. But, the main question is: Why do **_you _**want to be here?"

Cloud stared back at him, saying, "My friend is a Soldier, and I love all the stories he tells me. I love how he is trained, and...Just everything that he has done."

"Has he ever mentioned anyone named Sephiroth?"

"The guy with the long hair and the seven foot long sword? Yeah, he's mentioned him a lot."

Commander Demyx simply nodded, peering at Cloud. "Do you think you have what it takes? Honestly."

Cloud simply looked at him, then nodded. "Yes sir, I believe I do."

"We'll see." Commander Demyx stood up, holding a hand out. "Welcome aboard." Cloud shook his hand, as the Commander said, "Now, next training. Follow me."

Cloud followed him out of the room, and down a short grey hallway through a door at the end. He paused, as he walked into the room, noticing all the steel. It covered most everything, except the floor. The floor was a blinding white, with how the light bounced off of it. As continued looking around, he noticed many hoses, needles, shots, bowls, and anything that involved cutting. He saw steel cabinets and drawers, bright fluorescent lights, and in the center of the room, a table. He followed the Commander over to the table, noting the restraints.

"Wait here." The Commander walked over to a little call button speaker next to the door, pressed down a red button, and spoke. "John, bring in four, maybe five guys."

He released it, and walked back over, his boots making _clomp, clomp, clomp _sounds across the floor. Soon, six men walked in, five out of the six wearing a dark blue doctor's outfit, and black boots. Five had brown hair, and one had blonde. The blonde was dressed in a green doctor's uniform, and walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a box. Once he pulled something out of the box, Cloud noticed it was gloves. The rest of the group walked over, boots clomping, the gloves making little smacking sounds as they pulled them on.

When they walked back and over to Cloud and the Commander, Commander Demyx pointed to the table saying, "This is the second part. You'll most likely live afterwards, so don't worry."

Cloud paused, remembering that this must've been what Zack had to do. The blood pumping through his veins and now visibly sweating, Cloud slowly sat down and pulled his black-clad legs onto the table, and laid down, all the doctors moving in and strapping the restraints on him. He had one on his left wrist, one right below the elbow, and across the middle of his bicep, the mirrored image on his right arm; one strapped across his upper chest and lower chest, on his left leg, one across the middle of his thigh, the middle of his shin, and above his ankle, the same mirrored image across his right leg. The leather bound into his skin as the doctors tightened it, the Commander and doctor in green attaching things to him. He had a patch attached to his temples, chest, and left arm, under the straps, wires leading down from them, attaching to a machine next to Cloud.

When the doctors seemed to be done, Cloud shook his blonde hair out of his eyes, looking at the Commander and doctors. "What are you doing to me? What's with the restraints?"

Commander Demyx simply looked back at him. "Phase two of the interview. But, it'll be over soon, so you'll be starting the training in a couple of days."

He walked away over to the cabinets and leaned against them, the green-clothed doctor walking over to the cart, pulling things off of it. "Now," he began, picking up the metal tools, "To become a Super Soldier, you're going to be injected with something called Jenova, and truth be told, your body's not going to like it at first. So, that's going to be quick and painful." The doctor walked back over to him, and put the metal tools on a silver tray. "And that's what the restraints are for," he continued simply, "And the other doctors, they're to help calm you down afterwards. So, I'm just going to put this medicine into you, and all those things attached to you; those are to help monitor how well your body handles it. Ready?"

The doctor lifted a long shot, Cloud barely seeing one more on top of the tray. The shot the doctor was holding had a long, very slim needle, the shot itself holding the liquid looking to be at least six inches long. Another doctor walked over, and swabbed Cloud's arm with rubbing alcohol, the strong burning putrid smell causing Cloud to turn his head away. When the assistant doctor stepped back, the doctor stuck the needle in his arm, slowly, finding a vein. Even looking at the ceiling, Cloud could feel the cold needle sliding around inside his arm, searching like a cat for a mouse. When he found it, he slowly pushed the medicine into Cloud, still staring at the steeled ceiling, unconsciously wondering why it was steeled, instead of having some sort of windows.

His arm throbbed, and as he felt the shot slide out, his arm started tingling, almost blocking out the feeling of the second shot entering. As the medicine from the second shot started flowing throughout him, his mind seemed to shatter. His body relaxed completely, then as the second shot slowly finished and was pulled out, a painful ache started in his arm, heading up to his head, then throughout the rest of his body. His muscles tightened direly, then contracted, only to be tightened again. His breathing became a lot quicker, and he thought he had squeezed his eyes shut, yet the chromed ceiling still met his vision, the slight light reflecting off if almost blinding him.

He started trying to pull out of the restraints, the leather cutting into his body. He didn't care though. He just wanted to do something to try to get the mind shattering pain out of him, and he knew he'd feel better if he could just _move._ He started yelling, words mixed in with cries of agony, bouncing off of everything, echoing through the room. He moved his head side to side, trying to get away, while the pain continued to mount on top of him. He had tears coming out of his eyes, streaming down the side of his face, leaving cool wet paths behind. He had the constant thought of _Oh god, I'm going to die, _on his mind, along with _What did Zack get me into? _and _Please, anyone, make the pain go away,_ being added.

Finally, the pain seemed to lift, leaving him shaking and breathless. The doctors came over and massaged his limbs, surprising Cloud. It made him feel a lot better though, soon enough to fall asleep, the darkness of death seeming to wash over him as he closed his eyes.

When he next woke, he was on a bed with while sheets over him. He looked around the pale green room, seeing the Commander standing next to him. "Good job, Soldier. You handled the injection very well, considering some of the others. Rest up, and if you feel up to it, I'll send in a Sergeant at 800 hours to come get you to begin your training."

Cloud simply nodded, watching the Commander's tall powerful form leave, then looked around the room, seeing pictures of flowers and animals, along with pictures of what Cloud guessed to be old Nurses. He saw a simple white nightstand between every bed, and counted fifteen beds. The lights streaming into the room from the skylights and windows illuminated the nurse in the front of the room near him, who wore a white dress, her brown hair flowing smoothly to her shoulders. She smiled at him, and Cloud closed his eyes, sleepy once more, and fell into a deep rest.


End file.
